let's grow together!

Before I dig in, I first want to say, WELCOME! The dream of this community has been on my heart for some time, so I'm super excited that it's now a reality. I can't wait to dive deep with you, and I hope we all grow exponentially together!

WELCOME

What to Expect: General Information

Starting in 2024, the entire FFY Library is now available via the Dashboard. You may want to save the Dashboard link as a favorite on your browser for easy access. The Dashboard is broken up by:

1. Plant Profiles
2. BTS Farm Tasks
3. Tools & Downloads
4. COMING SOON: New Articles

While on the Dashboard, be sure to use the menu option to view all Plant Profiles and Tools & Downloads (they are not all visible on the dashboard). You'll find the menu on the right-hand corner of each section:

Each month, I take you behind-the-scenes of our monthly farm tasks. I also include topics I *wish* I would have known or done when I was just starting out. In these posts, I often touch on some broader topics, as well as include exercises and tools that I personally use (many of them are ones I created).

While this portion of FFY is more informal and centered on BTS of our farm, I hope it gives you insight and actionable steps to implement on your own. Some of my biggest a-ha moments are learning what others do (even if I did not implement exactly the same way). Everything may not be for you, but I hope you find some useful nuggets from a fellow farmer. 

What to Expect: BTS Farm Tasks

What to Expect: Plant Profiles

Plant Profiles are at the heart of FFY. They dive DEEP on one plant variety each month. They are meant to provide you with enough information to make good growing decisions. A desire to grow gorgeous flowers is one thing (take it from someone who has a flower wishlist full of stunning photos taken by flower growers from around the globe that is approximately 2470823 miles long). However, discerning if a particular plant is right for you and your climate is a whole other ballgame.

My intention here is to give you as much practical information to make these decisions. However, I'm going one step further and taking you completely behind the scenes to share exactly what has worked for us as well. 

For this reason, Plant Profiles are broken up into what I'm calling the
"Nuts and Bolts (N&B)" and "Behind the Scenes (BTS)."

Nuts and bolts (N&B): the practical facts about a particular thing. N&B include plant facts, optimal growing information for cut flower production, harvesting techniques, post-harvest treatment, and so forth, according to university research, industry-standard resources, research farms, and leading experts in the flower farming community.

Think of N&B as a collection of widely-accepted principles and successful growing practices, backed by research and leading experts in the field.

Behind the Scenes (BTS): how we apply this practical information on our farm. BTS is just that: me pulling back the curtain and getting into the nitty gritty of exactly what we do. It may not be the best way, it's certainly not the only way, but it is what currently works best for us based on our climate and how we choose to run our farm and business.

Think of BTS like a friend sharing a favorite recipe: If you want to know exactly how she makes her famous chocolate chip cookies, she's sharing her detailed recipe with you. You decide how to adapt it for your unique situation (taste, access to ingredients, altitude, equipment, etc.).

The "Why" Behind It

I decided to break it up this way, because I think both are equally important. One without the other is not a complete story. Optimal conditions without real-life application lacks clear, actionable steps and can leave one overwhelmed with analysis paralysis. On the other hand, blindly following the instructions of another grower without understanding the fundamentals can lead to frustration when results are not the same (because the conditions were not the same).

Learning the fundamentals is about understanding what a particular plant needs to thrive (regardless of your growing zone and unique situation). Applying that knowledge in real life is where you, as the grower, decide how you can best mimic those ideal conditions within the constraints of your growing zone and unique situation. That said, some of the best lessons I've learned were seeing how others *actually* do things. Seeing the practical information applied in real life is usually an a-ha moment for me (even if I may not end up doing it exactly the same way). Sometimes I just want the up-close, nitty-gritty details.

I hope the N&B provide you with the fundamentals to make informed growing decisions, while the BTS give you an idea of how these can be applied in real life.

My Promise

As this space grows and evolves, much like a farm itself, we will role out new features here! If you'd like to see something done differently or would find something helpful, please don't hesitate to reach out to me: maggie@petalbackfarm.com

As new features are rolled out, the membership price may change. However, as long as your membership remains active, we will HONOR your original membership price! In other words, you are locked in, my friend.

I'm so glad you're here :)
Cheers!  Maggie

If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback about your FFY Membership, please email us at support@petalbackfarm.com. If you have questions about flowers or farming (growing or otherwise), please use the comments section in each post. This helps us all grow!

For the best support regarding FFY, please use the above options versus DMs on Instagram. We love Insta, and we love connecting with you there, but Insta Messages can be the wild, wild west! 

I try my best to respond to all DMs (and I will continue to do so), but it's not always possible, and they easily get missed. As a member of FFY, you are much more of a priority to me than Instagram, so please utilize the above options for the best support. Also, this allows me to type a response at a keyboard, which means a better and more-thorough answer.

Support

So long as your membership is active, you always have digital access to every single piece of content. Should you decide to cancel your membership, you have the ability to save everything to your personal device prior to cancelling. Just be sure to do this PRIOR TO CANCELLING (sorry for all caps, I just want to save you and me both time :) ).

At the bottom of each post, there are options to either print as a physical copy (people like to keep them in a binder) or save as a digital PDF. To do so, scroll down to the bottom of the post and hover over the buttons to either Print or Save As PDF (you have to hover over the buttons, it's a weird feature of the plugin):

All downloads are available to save on your personal device at any time while your membership is active (and once downloaded, are available forever so long as you do not delete them. 

The Tools & Downloads section of the Dashboard houses all of the spreadsheets, PDFs, and other downloads. These are linked throughout the various posts, but every single tool/download will also be available here for easy access. Once again, be sure to use the Menu to access all of them as they are not all visible on the main dashboard. Should you decide to cancel, you'll want to make sure that you download or save each of these to your own personal device *prior to cancelling*.

I have received feedback that tools like the Seed Sowing & Planning Spreadsheet were extremely helpful. I am so thrilled to hear this, so I'll be adding even more to the library! I have various spreadsheets and cheat sheets in development that I use on the farm, they're just not quite ready to be published (anyone else's personal spreadsheets a mess of notes and highlights?!). So, stay tuned for more tools in 2024!

What to Expect: Tools & Downloads

The first year of FFY was focused on Plant Profiles and BTS Farm Tasks. In 2024, I'll be adding more Plant Profiles and publishing new tools/downloads, but also sharing new articles on broader topics like harvesting, marketing, exploring different revenue streams, newsletters, social media, and more. I cannot wait to dive in!

What to Expect: New Articles

So, you signed up and decide this is not for you? No problem! In fact, we have a money-back guarantee. Due to the digital nature of the content, we just ask that you email support@petalbackfarm.com within one week of signing up for 100% money back. After one week, you can still cancel at any time via your account before your next payment. We can also happily do this for you!

Money-Back Guarantee and Cancellations